"Dembélé is very well, he is like a motorcycle", the same sources that see the Frenchman, absent in the last three months due to injury, transfer from the sports city to a great revulsion to revive the leader of the League in a final somewhat leaden football season. Dembélé will not be a starter. But he will have long-awaited minutes after the team has only been able to score two goals and win one game in the last five. "You have to finish this off with a shine," they emphasize.
It is the internal message that Xavi has also conveyed to his players after losing at Rayo Vallecano. “It was the worst game of the season. Football was missing and also values such as sacrifice. There are seven games left and we have to keep adding points", said the Barcelona coach who, 48 hours after returning from Vallecas, has his own diagnosis: "That Real Madrid lost the day before against Girona makes you relax more when it should be a motivating aspect.
In this context, continuing to empty an infirmary in which only Sergi Roberto remains to recover players like Christensen and Dembélé is to be appreciated. “We have missed them. Christensen is a signing of mine. He is always aware of everything, ”he said of the Danish central defender, who he will start. “Ousmane is the most unbalancing footballer in the squad. We don't have anyone to improve their one-on-one,” he said of the Frenchman.
Encouraged by the support of his coach, Dembélé arrives at the meeting against Betis with very good feelings after injuring the rectus femoris in his left leg on January 28 in Montilivi. He was scheduled to be out for a month and a half, but due to his history of slow-healing injuries, he suffered a relapse in mid-March before the league classic against Real Madrid. "The injury was in an area that is more difficult to heal," Xavi argued yesterday. Sources close to the player point out that during his loss the Frenchman has worked hard in the gym of the sports city to strengthen an essential area for him to sprint. "He has also done double sessions at home with his professionals," they add.
Beyond his football recovery, there has also been time to strengthen ties with his representative, Moussa Sissoko, who has exchanged several messages with the football director Mateu Alemany. “There is a good harmony. The disagreements of last year are history. At any time there can be progress with his renewal ”, insists those around the footballer, whose contract ends in 2024. His main supporter is still Xavi. "You can do a survey of the full-backs to see who they prefer to score, Dembélé or another," he slipped. The coach, who assures that the League is not taking long, has missed him.
